Part One-

Driving Lessons and Harsh Words

"Just as an arrow once released from the bow can not return, in the same manner painful and harsh words can not be taken back." -Sam Veda

(Disclaimer:I don't own any of the characters in this story.)

John Tracy sat in the passenger seat of his older brother's Mercedes, with a white knuckle grip on the door handle. As he watched his little brother swerve through traffic, he completely understood why Scott had freaked out earlier.

Alan was a skilled driver, John would give him that, but his risky maneuvers were scaring the living daylights out of the overly cautious blonde Tracy. The sixteen year-old's driving held an uncanny resemblance to those puke-inducing carnival rides- and not the ones that just spun around in a circle a few times, but the ones that messed with your mind and made you think you were about to make a head-on collision, only to swerve away at the last second.

As John was once again thrown into the seat by the sheer force of the car speeding up, his grip on the door tightened, and he wondered how in the world he had gotten stuck in this situation.

^.^

Flashback:

John Tracy sat in the small, but comfortable hotel room finishing the final chapters of his new book. He and his older brother, Scott, had surprised their younger brother, Alan, by coming up for the weekend to celebrate his sixteenth birthday. John remembered the priceless look on Alan's face when they arrived at his dorm in Wharton's and whisked him off to the Ritz-Carlton hotel suite they had rented a few miles away.

The next morning, while the boys were working their way through the five-star breakfast buffet, Scott had told Alan that they could take his car out for a little while so he could teach him how to drive. Alan had been so excited when he'd heard the news that he'd ran out the revolving door to the car, leaving both his older brothers laughing at the table. That had been a couple of hours ago.

Now, John continued to work on the final pages of his book when, all of a sudden, he heard the suite door slam shut.

Bam!

"Well, that doesn't sound too good." John said to himself, glancing up from his computer.

"Alan, never again will I try to teach you how to drive a freaking car."

"Yep, definitely not a good sign." John said as he closed his Macbook and walked out of the bedroom. He found Scott and Alan in the living area, neck-deep in the middle of a heated discussion.

"What? Why?" Alan exclaimed.

"Really Alan, do I really need to explain why after the afternoon we just had!" Scott replied, obviously frustrated.

"Hey, what's up with you two? Everything was okay a couple of hours ago when you guys left." John interrupted.

"Yeah, but that was before I had to experience Alan's reckless driving." Scott said, turning to his other brother.

"Oh come on Scott, it wasn't that bad." Alan paused and let out a quiet laugh. " I mean - it could've been worse. I didn't run anything or anyone over."

"You were three inches away from it!" Scott yelled. "John -" He pointed to Alan accusingly, "Your nutjob of a brother cut across two lanes of traffic two reach a Burger King!" Scott paused, breathing heavily out of anger. " Nearly hitting a little old lady out walking her dog, I might add."

"You nearly hit a little old lady?" John yelped in surprise, turning to his youngest brother and trying to hold back his own laughter. "You - er - must've been really hungry."

"Okay, fine, I did nearly run her over," Alan shrugged sheepishly, "but the key word in that sentence is nearly." Alan replied jokingly.

As Scott let out a loud sigh, John sensed that this conversation was reaching a dangerous level and immediately shut his mouth.

"Well I'm glad you two think that this is funny, but as surprising as this might sound, I don't." Scott replied sarcastically.

"Okay Scott, come on, knock it off." John said, walking over to his older brother and putting his hand on his shoulder. "It's over and no one got hurt, so just let it go, alright?"

Shrugging out of his brother's reach Scott continued on his rant. "No, John, I won't let it go. You could die behind the wheel of a car and Alan needs to realize that."

"You can't die when you're only going 5 mph." Alan said quietly.

Turning back to face his brother, "No, but you can at 50 mph." Scott replied.

Realizing that Alan was now back into the argument, John tried to break it up before it got any worse.

"Guys-"

"Really Scott, get a grip. You wouldn't even let me get past 10 mph. I mean, we were going so slow that little girls on bikes would've given us a run for our money."

"Guys, knock it off." John sighed.

"You know what Alan, if you think someone else could do a better job teaching you how to drive, than get them to take you. I'm through with your little Ricky Bobby stunts. Until you learn to grow up, I'm done." Scott told his little brother angrily. "I, unlike you, value my life over a cheap Whopper!"

"Scott, calm down! Why don't you go and relax for a little while and I'll take Alan back out for a bit?"

"Well good luck with that." Scott sneered as he tossed John his keys. Ignoring his little brother's death glare he continued on, "But don't say I didn't warn you. When you end up wrapped around a pole like a pretzel because of Evil-Knevil over there, don't blame me." Scott looked directly at his younger brother before walking over to the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

John sighed before turning back to his youngest brother. "Alan-"

"It's fine John, let's just go." Alan grumbled before walking out of the hotel room and slamming the door behind him, leaving the blonde haired Tracy standing alone in the living area.

Oh brothers, John thought before heading out the door to catch his brother.

^.^

Finally, John had had enough. He was positive if he wasn't on solid ground in five minutes, his lunch was going out the window.

"Uh - okay, Alan, I think you've had enough driving for one day. Why don't you make a U- turn up ahead, and go back to the hotel." John told his brother shakily, trying to mask his anxiousness.

"John - we've only been gone for half an hour. Can't we keep going just a little while longer?" Alan asked.

"I'm sorry, kiddo, but I got to get back to finish the last chapter. I have a deadline you know." John lied, trying to sound calm.

Unfortunately, Alan was a little to perceptive and as soon as he looked over at his brother's tense form he knew the book wasn't the only reason why John wanted to head back.

John's reaction was the same as Scott's. The tense jaw, the white-knuckle grip on the door. The only difference was that whereas Scott had voiced his concern quite loudly, John was doing his best to stay calm.

God, Alan thought to himself, as he tightened his grip on the steering and pulled into the turn lane, Did none of his brothers believe he could do this? Was he really that bad of a driver?

Watching as his brother made a quick U-turn, John thought about what to do next. He knew that his brother had put two and two together and didn't buy the whole book excuse anymore, but he didn't know what else to say. Finally he took a deep breath and looked at his brother.

"Alan?" The blonde Tracy said, trying to get his brother's attention, but to no avail.

"Alan-" He tried again, but Alan didn't even flinch. "Come on sprout, answer me."

"What?" Alan grumbled, as he continued to stare out the front wind-shield.

"Look Alan, I'm sorry, okay. I shouldn't have lied to you, but in all truth, your driving really is scaring the hell out of me, kid, and I need a break. I hate to say this - but I can totally see where Scott was coming from earlier. You are a little maniac on the road."

Alan let out a snort and shook his head in disbelief. "Whatever." He said quietly.

John let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. Closing his eyes and rubbing a hand through his hair, a single thought passed through his mind, How could this day get any worse?

As he felt the car come to a stop at a red-light he once again glanced over at his brother, when all of a sudden a red blur in the greenery to his left caught his eye.

"What the heck?" John whispered to himself.

As the red blur got bigger, realization hit John like a ton of bricks. Panic rose in his throat as he yelled out a desperate warning to his younger brother, "ALAN! LOOK OUT!"

Alan, startled by his brother's sudden outburst, looked out the window to see the red motorcycle heading right towards them at a devastating speed. The youngest Tracy didn't have time to do anything to try and save him and his brother before the motor vehicle slammed into the driver's side.

There was a jarring impact that shook him to the very marrow of his bones - and then there was nothing.

Author's Note: I would like to give a BIG thank you to my beta FreshPress for helping me! I'm working on the next chapter already, so if everything goes according to plan it should be up in about a week. Also, please review, I love to hear what you guys think of my story and what I can do to improve.